The growing popularity of hyper-realistic "virtual" influencers is sparking debate over the future of advertising -- and South Korea's demanding beauty standards.

(This was before the recent generative AI boom)

  • smeg@feddit.ukEnglish
    6·
    7 months ago

    Good read, and very appropriate for this community. Machines pretending to be humans, humans bonding with machines, and the shadowy hand of corporate interests manipulating people for profit, it’s got it all!

  • BitSound@lemmy.world
    4·
    7 months ago

    Dumb question, but how are these novel compared to Bugs Bunny other than presumably being cheaper to animate? I see some hype but don’t really get it

    • morrowindOP
      8·
      7 months ago

      other than presumably being cheaper to animate?

      I would assume they’re more difficult to animate, considering the detail and realism.

      But the difference is people are used to real but idealized peole as influencers. Virtual influencers fit that aesthetic. cartoon characters don’t

    • smeg@feddit.ukEnglish
      6·
      7 months ago

      Bugs Bunny was never impersonating a real human, I think the novel part is the way an artificial human is interacting with the public in the same way a real human would, and the public are sometimes mistaking it for one

  • The Doctor@beehaw.orgEnglish
    11·
    7 months ago

    The only problem with scandal-free idoru is that they’re missing out on the free advertising from news and social media, as well as limiting penetration into secondary markets.